Meanwhile President-elect Barack Obama came under pressure from chief executives of leading U.S. companies to implement a fiscal stimulus package and name his economic team.

One of the bailout recipients, American International Group, will pay roughly $3 million to several executives under deferred compensation plans that are being terminated, according to a regulatory filing. The insurer halted plans last week to pay $503 million in deferred compensation.

Meanwhile, housing starts came in worse than expected, falling 4.5 percentto a record 791,000 annual rate. It was the lowest reading since the measure was created in the late 1940s. An earlier report showed mortgage applications fell to their lowest level in nearly eight yearslast week.

U.S. oil inventory data is due to be released at 10:35 am.

On the earnings front, BJ's Wholesale will report earnings numbers before the bell.